Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Hello,
Would anyone who shoots Canon be willing to spend 10 minutes or so on the phone with me? I have the 5 D MIV and older 70D. I have 100-400 II and 1.4 converter as well as Tamron 150-600 v2.
If you do wildlife and would be willing to answer some questions I would love to talk with you.
Thank you
Beth
You can see a recent post of baby bears with the 100-400 set up on 5D.

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

I have almost the same setup and would be willing to discuss on the phone, but that defeats the purpose of a photography forum. There are probably others that are interested in your questions and the answers. So I suggest you pose a few of your questions online. Or if you don't want to do that, you can PM me, and we can get together via phone.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

I’m happy to post some questions, but would still like to talk with you.
Low light. I have been out in the evening and with the 5D & 100-400 with extender I have to go to ISO 5000 and still my shutter speed is 500 or less and f8 is as open as I can get. Does that sound right?

I’m taking a trip to Africa and I’m working on shooting modes. Another going on this trip said he mostly shoots in aperture mode. When I do this it with a set ISO seems the photos are overexposed. I can go in and say expose all at say -1, is that what you have to do?

Also, I feel most my photos are still soft. See the baby bears which were taken in the middle of the day, plenty of light ISO 1000 420mm f8 1/640. I really hate to go higher ISO for faster shutter speed, and again this is in the middle of the day! Is that really what I have to do? Then the noise is...sort of bad.

A few starting questions!
Thanks
I ran the Moose through Topaz Denoise and worked in LR about 75 yards away mid day in the rain
Last photo NOT MINE, but I wish it was, guy's going on trip, uses Nikon, but I want photos as sharp and clear as this! I can't seem to get the same type results....

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ISO 4000 F10 1/640

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SkyKing Loc: Thompson Ridge, NY

...have you used the Multi Shot Noise Reduction option this camera has...?

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

I have been told it is better to do it in PP rather than in camera. It slows down buffering...

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

When you shot the moose the ISO was quite high and so was your f/stop. You shot in Manual and could have dropped the f/stop down to f/8 and that's 2/3rds of a stop and would have allowed an ISO of 2500 instead of 4000.

You say "Another going on this trip said he mostly shoots in aperture mode. When I do this it with a set ISO seems the photos are overexposed. I can go in and say expose all at say -1, is that what you have to do?"

I think you should give Av mode (aperture priority) another try. There must have been something else wrong with your settings for your images to be overexposed. I usually find most of mine the other way around. I use Av almost all the time. This way you can set your aperture wide open and for your lens with the 1.4x that would be f/8. The first thing I'd do is try to not use the 1.4x all the time. That way you can use f/5.6. Keep the TC in your pocket and put it one when you NEED it. Only when you NEED it. Shooting at f/8 with your 5D Mk IV isn't that bad because it handles noise pretty good at higher ISO's. But you're right about the ISO; I try to avoid going up to ISO 4000 whenever I can. But your moose isn't bad since you took most of the noise out. LR by itself does a pretty good job of removing noise.

I find that when shooting down at ground animals, I might have to give my exposure a little boost of about +2/3rds of a stop with the EC control; animals that are dark like your bears especially. The cat you shot would probably be neutral EC. Shooting birds in flight on a really blue sky, +2/3rds. Shooting flowers that are colorful, I usually go -2/3rds to give them more saturation.

When shooting Av mode, keep an eye on your shutter speed and try your best to keep the shutter up as high as possible. When it drops so low that you are getting blurry images because of subject movement, or your hand hold jitters, you must be ware to adjust the ISO higher to get your shutter speed up higher. Learn where to press the button for ISO adjustments on the fly. Index finger on top, second button over or 1st of the larger buttons. The turn the top dial.


PS - the cat pic is shot with a Nikon and a prime 400mm lens. You mustn't compare your images to a shot taken by someone elses equipment especially when it's a top of the line prime lens. You are using a zoom, albeit a very top of the line zoom made by Canon. It's the sharpest zoom on the market today but they still can't stand up to a top of the line prime on a good body.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Thanks for the help. I guess I went with the f10 because another photo I took of a bear did not have the body in focus and I was hoping to get more of the animal in focus! I will stay closer to the f8. Also, do you use spot focus or say 9 square focus?

fbeaston Loc: Vermont

Thank you … I have a similar set-up & would like to see the Q&A as well. Thanks for highlighting that.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I am shooting the 80D and 400 prime - I only use a 1.4X in GOOD light ! - in low light, I would optimize my image quality and CROP and use pixel enlargement software.

I do not know why, but my EC for normal shooting is always -1 on the 80D - so I would not worry about that too much ....

Have you done a focus calibration with the bare lens AND the TC ??
.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Lots of people who can help here on UHH.
I have the 100-400L mk2 (with 1.4x III extender) and 150-600 G2, I used to have the mk1 and G1. My first long combo was a 6D and the Tamron G1. I now have 5DIV, 7DII and 80D.

When the extender is on the 100-400 it becomes an f/8 lens and you need good light or fill flash with a better beamer for many cases. I do birds, butterflies, bees etc in my yard and nearby parks.

A monopod or tripod greatly helps to hold a camera and long lens steady. Hand held is perfectly possible with practice etc, a pistol grip on the tripod collar helps and doing arm exercises, learning to use braces like railings, trees etc helps also.

Look at the mostly birds that "Regis" here on UHH posts. He handholds.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Oh, for large animals that are not moving fast you don't need really high shutter speeds. And the further away they are the deeper your depth of field gets so you can open the lens up and still get good shoots. Use a DOF calculator app on a smart phone and you will be amazed at how much DOF you get at 50-75-100 yards or more. You can open up the lens, reduce the ISO and sometimes increase the SS.

Most blur (unless your AF needs calibration) is from camera movement.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Yes, I did have that done when it was professionally cleaned last time. It was off a little. Thanks for the thought!

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Very familiar with Regis! Which lens do you like better the Canon or Tamron?

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

Using a teleconverter on a long zoom is a recipe for soft photos. A tripod would help, but not a lot. What kind of results are you getting without the TC? And, are you using a tripod?

I almost always shoot wildlife in shutter priority mode.

It's hard to say why you're seeing overexposed shots in aperture priority mode - the camera is just going to select a shutter speed to go along with the selected aperture setting. It's not like in aperture priority, where you sometimes get underexposed shots with a fixed ISO because the camera couldn't open the aperture any wider.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

I have gotten good shots with and without the 1.4. I was just expecting to be able to get a faster shutter speed in the evening with a 4000-5000 ISO. Even during the day to get a shutter speed over 500 was taking an ISO of 1000 which surprised me and I wanted to know it that was normal, which I guess it is especially with the 1.4 on. Hummingbird with converter during the day.

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